The Protestant Reformation at 500

This page lists many resources for the celebration of 500 years of the Reformation.

On Oct. 31, 1517, a dour-faced Catholic monk named Martin Luther posted a long list of grievances – 95 in all – to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. The world shifted on its axis and has never been the same since; scholars trace the development of capitalism, the rise of public education, the cult of the individual and many more aspects of the contemporary world to the ideas born in the Protestant Reformation. In terms of religion, the Reformation led to a married clergy, an emphasis on family over celibacy, the notion of divorce and, most importantly, the idea of “sola scriptura” – the idea that the Scriptures are infallible and the sole authority on spiritual matters.

Resources

Religious

ELCA500 is a website run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with a listing of events, resources for congregations, news and more. The site also lists members of the board and staff, who are scattered across the U.S.

Luther500 Festival is a weeklong pilgrimage to Wittenberg, taking place at three different times in 2017 and aimed at families and individuals, not scholars or clergy.

Reformation 500 is an online resource from Concordia Seminary that includes a detailed timeline of Luther’s life and other resources that explore the impact Luther and Protestantism has had on religion, politics and society.

Reformation 2017 is a website maintained by the Lutheran World Federation, a relief agency based in Geneva, Switzerland, with a page of resources and events for Lutheran churches that support its work.

Secular

Luther 2017 is a site maintained by the German National Tourist Board. It tracks Luther-related events, concerts and exhibits and also lists stories, essays and reviews related to the 500th anniversary.

On the legacy of Luther and the Reformation

Read “Martin Luther in North America,” a November 2016 article by Mark A. Granquist posted on Oxford Research Encyclopedias’ website. The takeaway: American scholars, both Protestant and Catholic, are making significant contributions to the study of Luther, Lutheranism and the Reformation.

Read “Is the Protestant Work Ethic Real?” by Joshua Keating for Slate, Aug. 29, 2013. The takeaway: The story susses out several studies that attempt to examine the impact of the Protestant work ethic on different economies.